ASCO 2018 | Osteomimicry in prostate cancer: current understanding & future targeting

Osteomimicry has been studied for the last few decades, and is the process by which cancer cells can spread to the bone and evade immune surveillance. Here, Andrew Armstrong, MD, from Duke University, Durham, NC, speaking from the 2018 American Society of Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting, held in Chicago, IL, discusses our current understanding of osteomimicry in prostate cancer and explores possible ways of inhibiting the process. Research has identified that these cells become osteoblast-like cells through genetic alterations and subsequent signal amplification. Dr Armstrong highlights how this knowledge may now allow for targeted therapies to be developed and shares an interesting observation about the effect of osteomimicry on radium deposition.